Turn around
by kingdomkeepers365
Summary: What if the Jolly Roger doesn't make it to Neverland. What if it lands somewhere else, somewhere familiar. When the rescue group meets up with some old friends, they are lead to a camp where a special someone, recently rescued, may be waiting. Oneshot, Swanfire, slight Snowing, Papa Rumple.


The Jolly Roger had been travelling for days now. Because Hook had been steering rather than just letting them fall through, the portal had taken longer to navigate and they had landed in the middle of the ocean. Finally, the group saw the shore.

"Welcome to Neverland" Rumple said. Regina had her eyes on Hook. She noticed he looked confused, worried even.

"Hook…"she said. "What the hell's the matter?"

"Nothing" Hook said. He was looking down, not focusing.

"Hook" Emma said. "You're lying. What's wrong?" She said the last few words forcefully, as if she were scolding him.

"It's just…" Hook hesitated.

"Go on" Snow said.

"This doesn't look like Neverland"

"What?" Emma said, this time with a bit less punch. She said it more vulnerably this time, her voice getting weaker.

"The portal was forceful, difficult to navigate. Perhaps we got lurched in the wrong direction."

"No!" Emma was screaming now and beginning to cry. "We have to be in Neverland! That was the last bean; it was the only way to find Henry!" Emma was breaking into sobs now. Snow walked over to her daughter and placed her hands on her shoulders. Emma looked up at her mother, tears filling her eyes.

"We will find him Emma don't you worry." said Snow. "This could still be Neverland. We don't know"

"Why don't we go explore" Charming said. "See where we are."

"David is right" Snow said. "We've been on this ship too long"

Hook let down a ramp that touched the sand. Regina was the first to go ashore, followed by Rumple, Hook, Snow and Charming, and finally Emma.

Once they were on the beach, Hook crouched down and grabbed a bit of the sand. He looked at it closely, felt the texture, sniffed it and let it run through his fingers.

"This sand is not like that of Neverland" Hook said. He stood up and pointed out a nearby tree. "And Neverland has different trees." He looked back at the group. "I don't know where we are, but it's not Neverland"

"You mean to tell me…" Emma said, her voice distressed, "…that we went the wrong way with the _last_ bean?"

"Yes" Hook said. "I'm afraid so"

"NO!" said Regina. "So we're just stuck here?!"

"Yes" Hook said, looking genuinely sad.

Just then, Emma's grief took control of her.

"HOOK" she screamed, turning red with anger. "HOW COULD YOU GO THE WRONG WAY? HOW COULD YOU LET THE SHIP LURCH?" Emma charged at him, but Charming held her back. He turned her so that she was facing him. He could see her beginning to cry.

"It's okay Emma" he said. "We're going to find a way. When I put you in that wardrobe 29 years ago, I had faith that we were going to see each other again. You need to have that faith now. We will find Henry." Tears filled Emma's eyes and then she was crying; her walls had completely fallen down.

Charming brought his daughter into a tight hug, trying not to cry himself, to be strong for her. He was starting to get used to this, this fathering stuff. He liked it, being this close with Emma, but he now knew the pain he wished he would never have to know, the pain of his daughter grieving.

"I don't know what to do" Emma said through her sobs. "I've lost him so many times I can't bear losing him again."

"It's going to be okay Emma" Charming said. "You've just got have faith. If I've learned anything in my entire life that's it.

Charming squeezed Emma tighter and she accepted it, allowing herself to accept his love. She knew he was doing his best to comfort her, she knew it had to be difficult. She appreciated it and she loved him, but it was hard to have faith like he said. In 24 hours, she had lost the man she loved and her son. It seemed like her whole world was falling apart.

"We will find him Emma" Charming assured her. "_You_ will find him. Trust me. You're my daughter. You will _always_ find him." Emma chuckled and wiped her tears away. Charming smiled. It warmed his heart to have at least brought a second of joy to Emma.

"So where are we?" Snow asked.

"I'm not exactly sure" Rumple said. Regina looked around. The surroundings were familiar, _very_ familiar.

"It looks like…" she began, but she stopped when she noticed that everyone was staring towards three figures coming down the beach, obviously human.

As the three began to get closer, Emma squinted, trying to make them out. It took her a few seconds, but soon she was filled with relief, and some joy as well. Emma smiled.

"Mom!" she shouted. "Look!" Snow walked over to where Emma was standing, and squinted, looking out just as her daughter had done not a minute ago. Emma turned around to face the group.

"We're in the Enchanted Forest." she stated.

"That's what I thought" Regina said. "But how can you be so sure Miss. Swan?" Regina's question was answered by Snow shouting one word, a name.

"Mulan!"she exclaimed. Soon, the three people were jogging down the beach in order to reach the group.

"Snow!" Aurora shouted as she arrived. "Emma!"

The four women were soon locking each other into tight hugs. When they pulled apart, Aurora went over to a man, the third figure on the beach. He put her arm around her and she smiled.

"You must be Phillip." Snow said.

"In the flesh" Phillip replied.

"How wonderful to see you two reunited." Snow went over and grabbed Charming's hand, pulling him over to where her friends stood.

"And this is my husband" she said. Aurora smiled.

"It's a pleasure to meet you" Aurora said.

"The pleasure is all mine" Charming replied.

"Not that I'm not overjoyed to see you" said Mulan. "But what are you all doing here? How did you get here?"

As soon as Mulan said this, Emma's smile fell. Because now she remembered why she was here; it had slipped her mind in all of the joy of reuniting with her friends.

"Henry" Emma said solemnly. "Someone kidnapped him and brought him to Neverland. We had one magic bean to create a portal, but we didn't have the compass with us at the time, so we ended up here instead."

"Cora" Aurora said.

"No not Cora" Emma said. She hesitated before saying the next sentence, worrying it might upset Regina or set her off.

"Cora's…dead"

"Well then who was it?" Mulan asked. Emma was about to say something, but Mulan could see the upset in her face.

"You know what?" she said. "Never mind. No matter what we shall help you, just as before."

"Thank you." said Snow. "And if there is any way we can help you, it will be done" The two girls smiled.

"Not to be rude" Regina interrupted. "But who exactly are these people"

"Aurora and Mulan helped Emma and I get back to Storybrooke when we were trapped here the first time"

"Well first of all you'll need a place to sleep" Mulan said. "We rebuilt the refugee camp. We can take you there"

"Thank you" Charming said. "That's a very kind offer, but we could all sleep in our castle, Snow and mine's I mean. It would be a lot more comfortable for all of us and there's plenty of room."

"Charming" said Snow. "I've seen the castle. It's ruined."

"But it still has beds doesn't it, and a roof? It may be damaged but I think it would be nicer for everyone then sleeping outside." He turned to Aurora and Mulan. "Not to be rude, I'm sure your camp is wonderful, but I think you can agree with me that you would be a lot more comfortable in a castle as well."

"I suppose you're right" said Aurora. "But…" she continued, now turning to Mulan. The women were now whispering in each other's ears.

"Do we tell her?" Mulan asked

"No." said Aurora. " Let it be a surprise."

"But she has a right to know"

"And she will know. Imagine how much more wonderful it would be for her if she just saw him standing there."

"You make a good point. We also don't want to put him into too much shock. He doesn't know and if she does she'll go running. That impact could be bad for his health currently"

"So you see why we have to keep it a secret."

"I still think that you just want to see them reunited that way."

"So what, I'm not allowed to be a romantic?" Mulan giggled.

"Okay I see where you're coming from" she said. "But we still need to tell them something, give them a reason why we have to go back."

"So just be truthful, but discreet"

"Gotcha" said Mulan. She turned to the group again.

"Thank you for inviting us to your castle. It would be our honor to join you there, but we do need to go to the camp first."

"Why is that" Emma asked.

"We have another friend there, another survivor believe it or not."

"Well then let's go get them" said Charming.

"Follow us" Mulan said. The group began to walk up the beach. Mulan and Aurora smirked at each other. Emma walked next to Snow, having no idea what she was about to encounter.

* * *

Neal sat up on his makeshift mattress and placed his feet on the floor. It had been two days since he woke up here in the Enchanted Forest, alive. He found out that there were three people here, survivors of the curse. They had healed his wounds with magic and took care of him.

Although he was healed, he was still weakened. Now, feeling as if he had some of his strength back, he decided to take a walk around the camp. As he walked his head was down. Sure it was true that he was here, alive, which he was grateful for, but there was nothing happy in his life. Everything was wrong.

To top things off, he was separated from Emma and Henry, most likely forever. His fiancée, who he loved and thought loved him back, had betrayed him, hurting him and more importantly, the ones that he loved.

_Love. _ It was a word that meant so much to him.

'I love you'. They were the last words that he and Emma would ever speak to each other.

_I love you_ the last thing she said to him.

_I love you too_ the last thing he had said to her. Although it did make him sad, it also made him feel better to think that. At least if he would never see Emma again, he knew that she loved him, and she knew that he loved her. He knew that it was one of the only things that would bring comfort to him as he lived out the rest of his days.

After all of this time, after all of the things he did, Emma still loved him. The woman who he loved with every ounce of his being, who he thought about every day of his life, still loved him back.

The other comfort was Henry. The thought that he had helped to create a human being so wonderful, so beautiful, so amazing, made him feel like he had finally done something right. Emma and Henry, the only two things he _ever_ got right.

* * *

"We're almost there" Mulan said as she led the group to the safe haven. Emma was walking towards the front of the pack with Snow. She was still shaken up after everything that had happened.

"I just don't know what to do" she said, mid conversation with Snow. "What if I never see him again?"

"Don't worry Emma" said Snow. "We will find Henry. Trust me"

"But that was the last bean. There's no way out of here now."

"We'll find a way. If there's one thing I know about you is that you won't stop fighting until you get what you want." Emma looked down for a few seconds. When she lifted her chin again Snow could see tears in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing" Emma replied. "It's just…Neal said something like that to me recently"

"Oh Emma" Snow said, feeling heartless to have said something that brought up more painful memories for her daughter. Emma sniffed.

"It's fine" she said. "I'll be fine"

"Do you need to talk about that? We didn't really get the chance to before…"

"Before all hell broke loose" Emma said, finishing her mother's sentence. "I know. It's just…I feel like this whole situation, with Henry I mean, it might have been a little bit easier to get through if I had him by my side. We could have helped each other get through it, emotionally."

Snow almost started crying herself. From the time she became pregnant, she knew that one day she would have to help Emma get through a broken heart. When she found out about the curse though, she thought that maybe it would be a pain she would not have to see her daughter go through. Now that it was happening though, she knew she would be there every step of the way to help Emma through it. That didn't mean that it didn't break her own heart. As she was thinking, Snow heard Mulan say something.

"Glad to see you back on your feet." Snow looked where Mulan was and her heart stopped.

"Emma" she said. Emma continued on with the conversation.

"I mean you have dad and I had Neal and now I need him again."

"Emma" Snow repeated.

"All those years ago, we made a promise to each other. We promised to take care of each other, always. I feel like I've broken that promise now. If I just could've held on to him a bit longer…"

"Emma!" Snow shouted, grabbing her daughter's shoulders. "Look!"

Emma looked to where her mother was pointing. She immediately lost all of her breath. Her stomach seemed to drop ten stories and she lost her footing. Because there he was, right there.

"Neal?!" she said.

* * *

Neal heard a familiar voice calling to him.

"Glad to see you back on your feet" It was Mulan, one of the people who had rescued him from the shore. He smiled and waved at her and continued walking. Then he stopped. He heard another voice behind Mulan, one that was far more familiar.

His eyes widened. His heart stopped. Why would she be here? Why would she come? Neal felt hot tears, that he didn't know were of joy or sadness.

"Neal?!" The voice said. He turned toward the source, knowing before he looked what he was about to see.

"Emma" he said.

* * *

Emma began to sob and then she started running. She felt as if she might faint. Right now everything seemed right with the world. Neal wasn't dead. He was here with her and soon she would be back in his arms.

Neal saw Emma coming and couldn't think to do anything else but hold out his arms. Before he knew it, Emma was charging into him. He wrapped his arms tightly around her, as tightly as he possibly could. He could hear her crying, combined with the sound of his own tears. With all of his strength, he lifted her up into the air, leaning back. He put her back down and they looked into each other's eyes. However, they still would not let go of each other.

"I thought you were dead. I thought I was never going to see you again." Emma said.

"Hey so did I" Neal replied. Emma laughed. Neal squeezed her tightly once again. This time, when they looked at each other there were no words. They leaned straight in and kissed, without hesitation.

Emma had forgotten how wonderful it felt to kiss Neal. It felt right, and wonderful. There was no kiss like Neal's, not to her anyway. Well, what else could you expect from kissing your true love?

When they pulled away from the kiss, they looked up at each other and smiled enormous smiles. Finally they stopped hugging, but Neal still kept his arm around Emma. As they were standing there, the rest of the group began to trickle into the camp.

Snow and Charming stood in the same position, facing Emma and Neal. They were smiling. In all of the turmoil of the past few days, Emma was finally happy.

"I don't understand" said Neal. "What are you doing here?" He asked this both excitedly and worriedly.

Emma looked down.

"About that…" she began. Just then, someone else was in front of them, and Emma immediately grew silent.

* * *

Rumple didn't know what to say. He didn't know what to do. His son, who had apparently been dead, was standing in front of him. All he could do was cry and utter one word.

"Bae"

Neal looked down. He was still angry. He wasn't sure he was ready to accept his father's love. He wasn't sure if it was true. He sure didn't seem to care about his son a few days ago. He was too focused on terrorizing the people of Storybrooke.

"Bae I'm sorry" Rumple pleaded. "I know that since you arrived I haven't been trying very hard. I lost my way son. But I'm ready to find it again. I'm here aren't I? I'm here risking my life to help."

"Help with what?" Neal asked. "I'm still confused."

"To help save Henry of course"

"Henry?" said Neal, devastated. "What happened to him what's wrong?" He was visibly worried.

Emma gave Rumple an angry look trying to communicate that she hadn't told Neal of their situation yet. She grabbed Neal's hand.

"Henry…" Emma began. She paused to collect herself, to bring herself to say the next words. "Tamara and Mendel kidnapped him and brought him to Neverland. Hook had one more bean and he tried to get us all to Neverland in his ship, but we ended up here by mistake."

Neal stumbled backward and crouched down. He buried his head in his hands. Emma could see that he was crying again. She crouched down next to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

He looked up at her, his eyes red and his face wet.

"How are we going to get to him?" he said. "You said that was the last bean"

"I don't know" Emma said, now crying again herself. She put her head on Neal's shoulder and he put an arm around her. The two just sat there, as parents grieving what could be the permanent loss of their child.

Snow Charming and Rumple were frowning. Rumple and Charming looked at each other. It was a look of understanding. Both of them had lost their child before, and now they were watching those children go through the same thing.

Just then, Snow's look brightened a bit and she looked up.

"The nursery" she said.

"What?" Charming replied.

"We're going to the castle. We can use the nursery!"

"Mom" Emma said, looking up. "Is there something you need to tell us?"

"No!" Snow said. "I mean... the wardrobe in the nursery. Last time we used the ashes to create a portal. The wardrobe didn't finish burning. When we go back to the castle, we can go to the nursery and get more ashes from the wardrobe!"

"That could work" said Mulan. "But also to create the portal Cora had to open up Lake Nostos with magic"

"I can do that" Regina said. "I'm sure I know the spell."

"Are you sure this will work?" Charming said.

"It did last time." Snow said. "It's worth the try."

"I can account for that" said Hook. "I was there as well when the portal was created, and all four of us made it to Storybrooke now didn't we?"

"Well then let's go" said Regina.

Emma and Neal stood up.

"Come on" she said to him. "Let's go get our son" The pair began to walk away, but was soon interrupted by someone else.

"Bae" Rumple. Neal began to turn away.

"Bae please let me speak" Rumple continued. Emma let go of Neal's hand.

"I'll leave you to alone" she said. Neal reached out his hand to her and looked at her with pleading eyes. He did not want to be left alone with his father.

But Emma knew he had to be. She knew the feeling of still being angry at her parents and she knew what it felt like to finally let that anger go. She knew that Neal still loved his father; she had seen it not too long ago when Gold was dying. All he needed was a chance to let that love make its way back to the surface.

"What do you have to say" Neal said. "Whatever it is make it quick."

"Bae" Rumple said. He reached out but Neal pulled away. "My precious boy. When I found out what happened, when I thought you were…dead" At this, Rumple just began to cry even more. Neal was still refusing to be warm, but he had turned to face his father and uncrossed his arms.

"Bae I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry I abandoned you, and then ignored you once we were finally reunited. It was wrong of me. Everyone makes wrong choices Bae, I've just made a lot more than everyone else. I can't change my mistakes Bae, but if you let me I can try and fix what's broken."

"You really came here willingly to find Henry?" Neal said, a little less toughly now.

"Of course Bae" Rumple said. "Bae…I could die on this journey, but that didn't matter to me at the time. You were dead and it was my fault and my grandson as the only thing I had left of you. Coming to save Henry was the only way for me to ever even remotely forgive myself"

Neal had let down all of his defenses now. He was listening to his father.

"Please Bae…"Rumple said. "Just give me another chance." Rumple extended his hand. Slowly, Neal moved in and finally, after hesitating, hugged his father.

"I missed you Papa" he said. Father and son, reunited once again were now both crying. When they finally came apart, Neal walked back over to Emma.

"Everything okay?" she asked.

"Ya" Neal said. "Thank you." Emma smiled at him and for the first time in nearly eleven years, the two kissed.

The group of travelers walked on to the Enchanted Forest, on their way to Snow White and Prince Charming's castle. This giant misfit family was together as one. Now all that was left was to rescue the other very special member.

A new adventure was beginning.


End file.
